The Humans (Chicago)

Overall the play was good, not great nor did I think worthy of the best play Tony Award. Typical family drama with some good one liners that make you laugh, but an odd ending and confusing story line left a lot on the table

It was the last show of the run. The sound system did not exist. No microphones. The actors tried there best to yell their lines, but truly expected a better sound system. Hopefully they directly faced the audience when they yelled their lines. If someone nearby coughed, you couldn't hear the actors. Also, no intermissions, no costume changes, no special scenery. Tickets should be cheaper. The play was entertaining and a real depiction of family interaction, but not spectacular as the reviews lead me to expect.

Worthy of its 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, this one act jewel was hilarious, sad, smart, thoughtful and provoking. The cast, highlighted by Richard Thomas (John Boy Walton), gave great performances. This story hits on so many themes of current family life: LGBTQ, PTSD, living in a post-911 world, growing income disparity, economic hardship, sibling rivalry, life and death. I am still digesting what I saw four days ago. I would give the play 5 stars except for two things: sometimes the dialogue wasn't clear (I couldn't make out what the cast was saying) and there were too many unexplained stimuli (e.g. what was the noise upstairs all about, why did lights keep going out and why did the kitchen pots and pans all crash to the floor). I do highly recommend this intriguing play.

it was extremely slow, boring. could not understand what they were saying, sound was terrible, complete waste of time. don't know how they can put this stuff out and say it wins awards. wish i could have given zero stars

Slow moving. Painful to watch. No intermission which is good because no one would come back.

The Humans started off as a typical family Thanksgiving that became dramatic pretty quickly. Each character was introduced and we got to know them and care about them\u2014plot was well developed and had those unforgettable twists and turns!

Brilliant and humorous are NOT the adjectives I would use to describe this play. The beginning shows promise of entertainment and humor but quickly degrades into sadness and anger. I only recall one interaction in which the theater laughed. A couple of times, small portions of the theater quietly laughed, but for the most part, silence. I found myself crying through portions of the play, the sadness was that pervasive. Illness, betrayal ,stormy parent child relationships, lost love, all covered under a dark gloomy toxic cloud. If the purpose was to create post play discussion, it worked. I felt pity and anger. Pity for the cast and audience who were suffering through the performance and anger at the critics who proclaim this to be a warm hearted play. As we left the theater, I only heard discussion of the sadness and wonder as to why they came. I share those feelings. I will never get those 90 minutes of my life back and I doubt refunds are offered just because the play was not what I anticipated. In my opinion, if you are looking for light hearted fun, this is not the play for you. Keep looking. If you are looking to watch the basic family holiday dinner under a microscope, with all the seedy underpinnings and hostility exposed, this is the play for you. Good Luck.

Good character development but ending is a little strange. Would be a good discussion play!

Couldn't believe this play won a Tony. Characters uninteresting and didn't care about any of them. Sound was not loud enough.

The dialogue was witty and clever at times, but the last part of the show was awkward and confusing, and did not seem to have a clear direction. The ending fell flat.

We saw this play 3 years ago at a small theater and enjoyed it immensely. It is about an intimate gathering of a family, and as such demands an intimate setting, i.e. a small theater. In the Cadillac Palace, a wide open house seating probably 1500, it didn't work. The actors, instead of projecting their voices as good actors do, were reduced to yelling. Still, with the acoustics of the house, there was reverb and echo that rendered many lines impossible to hear. To its credit, the theater has employed a sur-title system, of sorts. But it's made essentially of flashing lights, off to the side of the stage, so that it's distracting rather than helpful, and it only shows about four words per line as it scrolls quickly through the script. I think a wider stretch of text positioned above the stage, like Lyric Opera does, for example, would be much better. It was too hard to enjoy this wonderful play.

This is an entertaining play where nothing much happens. The acting is top notch but the story is pretty straightforward and simple.

The acting is flawless and the play hits home on many levels. It's enjoyable and hilarious on the surface and I think it's worth seeing at that level alone but the surreal touches take it to a whole different level not so funny and actually scary.

Amazing performances! Really felt like I was watching a family I knew!

Did not enjoy seeing The Humans play. The whole story was about a family getting together for Thanksgiving and dialogue about their lives. I kept expecting more to happen and it never did. Was bored and very disappointed in the story line.

I had seen the reviews of the New York production and they were so superlative. I couldn't wait to see it here and bought tickets right away. I was so extremely disappointed. I'm rarely that out of touch with the critics, but this was just dreadful. The acting was fine, and we had great seats, but the story was just ridiculous. Mainly because there was none. I read tons of character-driven fiction and know that it can be interesting but this was just a bunch of random people on stage and it wasn't interesting or compelling in any way. Save your money.

The play opens with family humor showing the relationships with each family member as they enter the apartment for the first time. Each character is carefully revealed to the audience at a comfortable pace. As their individual despair, frailties and humanity are established, the play takes a darker turn into the sadness that exists in the parents. The Irish Family Humor is presented in a wonderful way with each performer showing why they earned their respective roles on this cast. Wow, we loved it in case this was not already made clear!

Richard Thomas and Lauren Klein give two of the most sublime performances that will be seen this season. The entire cast bring to life a brilliant, humorous, moving play. Cast, play, direction, set are beautiful.

The reviews use claims of hilarious, rip-roaring laughter, etc. Our audience did not agree. It was a great story about family dynamic with pellets of humor throughout but in no way did we leave this performance feeling lighthearted from laughter. We enjoyed the story line of family dynamic and the actors performances.

I think this play was very flat. I did not find it funny at all and it lack continuity. At the ending was so boring. I did enjoy seeing Richard Thomas but that was it. I feel like I wasted my money. Very disappointed.

The four of us who saw the play would NOT recommend. We see a decent number of shows each year and this has to be one of the worst. I was looking to a family drama set over Thanksgiving. And while, I guess, some of it is believable it's also very predictable (parents not thinking their first apartment is good enough). Mostly what makes it so horrible is: no character development (you don't feel close to any of them; very removed so unreliable); No cohesive plot, many "so what" points (is the mom sick? dad infidelity? daughter is in retail or music? hard to know!) Such a week plot and and ending that leaves you thinking, what? Highlights: 90 minutes & no intermission so at least it goes by quick!

It was awesome. Emotionally charged and hit many family dynamics, some close to home; which made it all that much better.

While I wouldn t consider this a comedy by any stretch there are some really funny one liners in the play to break the tension. This play is about life; the struggles many face and an opportunity to put our own life in perspective. More thought-provoking than entertaining. The 90 minutes takes you away to their place/lives.

This was one of the most boring plots I have ever sat through. My Thanksgiving dinners have more drama. It must have been a slow year for plays in 2017.

This production about a family at Thanksgiving was so painfully--and beautifully--human. It made me want to hug all my family members. I think it absolutely did its job as a work of art to enlighten the human condition.

I was really looking forward to seeing this play. The actors were terrific, but the storyline just didn't cut it. It seriously came from the book of life from a zillion families I know. My husband said he could just go to one of our large family parties and hear the same thing, LOL. I just don't think *SPOILER ALERT* an affair and losing a job are so uncommon. I was very surprised to hear that it won the Tony Award for best play. I go to a LOT of theater. This just didn't cut it.

I was excitedly anticipating this play but was disappointed. The story line was boring. The actors were very good but they couldn't make up for a flat story. Bottom line, I wouldn't recommend this show.

Fantastic cast sharing their families journey, something everyone can relate to!

The Humans is a wonderful comedic drama about the foibles and frustrations all of us must overcome to make our way in the world. But, it was a poor fit for the cavernous Cadillac Palace Theatre. In my opinion, The Humans is best presented in a smaller format and a more intimate environment. This is a five-star play if presented at Steppenwolf, or Goodman, or Victory Gardens. Unfortunately, the play suffered from the producers' decision not to add microphones to these wonderful and talented performers as their best efforts were swallowed up in the vast space of the Cadillac Palace.

This performance of Humans was too long. Always suspect when there is no intermission, so many would have left. Very poorly directed: backs of actors to audience at table, shrill, stretched on and on. Grumbling in the audience and paltry applause.